The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured the Labour Party’s legal team that it will provide all requested documents for the party’s ongoing suit against the commission and President‑elect Bola Tinubu before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal. Chairman Mahmood Yakubu made this assurance when Labour Party legal head Dr. Livy Uzoukwu led a 60‑member legal team to a meeting with INEC representatives in Abuja on Monday to discuss the modalities for obtaining the documents.
Yakubu emphasized that the commission has nothing to hide, stating that documents available at INEC headquarters would be released immediately. He added that Resident Electoral Commissioners at the state level would also make the necessary documents available to the party promptly. “We are meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners today and we will discuss how other documents at the state level could also be made available to you speedily,” he said.
The assurance comes after INEC faced criticism for failing to upload presidential election results from all polling units to its Results Viewing Portal on election day. In protest, party agents from the Labour Party, the Peoples Democratic Party, and others staged a walkout from the National Collation Centre in Abuja. Despite the opposition’s agitation, INEC declared Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress the President‑elect in the early hours of Wednesday, 1 March 2023. Tinubu received about 8.8 million votes, ahead of PDP candidate Atiku Abubakar (6.9 million) and Labour Party candidate Peter Obi (6.1 million).
Dissatisfied with the results, the Labour Party approached the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal for permission to inspect the election materials used on 25 February, including the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), the primary technology deployed to ensure a free and fair process. INEC, in a countersuit, sought court permission to reconfigure the BVAS ahead of the upcoming governorship and state House of Assembly elections. The tribunal granted INEC’s request to reconfigure the BVAS but assured the Labour Party that the BVAS data would be backed up for inspection. INEC has now promised that all documents requested by the Labour Party will be made readily available.
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